ST. LOUIS 鈥 Richard Frank, who as 最新杏吧原创 personnel director is among city government鈥檚 longest-serving and most powerful officials, said Friday that he鈥檚 retiring, effective Dec. 1.
Former Personnel Director Rick Frank, who held the job for 17 years before retiring in 2021, has reapplied for his old position.
Meanwhile, Mayor Tishaura O. Jones appointed Monica Del Villar, an American Civil Liberties Union official, to head the city鈥檚 Civil Rights Enforcement Agency and Simon Huang, St. Charles County鈥檚 former IT director, as 最新杏吧原创鈥 chief technology officer.
Frank鈥檚 retirement after 17 years in the personnel post was announced by Jones in a news release.
As personnel director, Frank has overseen standards for hiring, firing, payment and promotion of the city鈥檚 more than 5,000 civil service employees. He and his staff also negotiate with unions that represent many of those workers, including the police and fire departments.
The personnel position is unique because, unlike most other city department heads, whoever fills it can be ousted only through a process that includes formal charges of malfeasance.
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As a result, people in the post typically overlap several mayors鈥 terms. In fact, since 最新杏吧原创鈥 civil service system was installed in 1942, Frank is only the fourth person to hold the job.
For all practical purposes, there have been only three: Frank鈥檚 immediate predecessor quit after just five days on the job after having second thoughts about moving here from California.
While not much in the headlines, Frank and other longtime personnel directors have played key roles on nuts-and-bolts issues.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a hidden position but ... it can have substantial impact on the delivery of city services,鈥 said Lana Stein, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Missouri-最新杏吧原创. 鈥淚t interacts behind the scenes with a lot of different actors鈥 in city government.
Under the city charter Jones will select Frank鈥檚 replacement from a list of three applicants referred by the city Civil Service Commission after competitive testing. The commission is made up of three mayoral appointees who serve staggered six-year terms; the panel also helps oversee the merit system.
Frank, in Jones鈥 news release, said he enjoyed working with many talented department heads, elected officials, union representatives and civil service commissioners and appreciates deeply the work of city employees.
He could not be reached for further comment Friday.
Frank was appointed in 2004 by then-Mayor Francis Slay after serving as human resources director for the 最新杏吧原创 County Family Court.
In recent years, he has been faced, along with other officials, with the need to fill hundreds of vacant positions and has cited the residency requirement as a key reason.
While the Missouri Legislature has repealed the rule for police, firefighters and other first responders until late 2023, city voters last year defeated a plan to lift the rule for all city merit system workers.
Frank, meanwhile, has defended the city鈥檚 practice of rehiring retirees while they are getting city pensions, saying it allows the city to retain valuable talent, especially in a tight labor market.
Because of the city鈥檚 civil service rules, other officials sometimes have had to get Frank鈥檚 support to get things done.
In one recent example, when Jones decided to require civil service employees to get COVID vaccinations or undergo regular testing, Frank had to issue a civil service regulation to implement that.
And last year, Frank shot down proposals by Aldermanic President Lewis Reed and the mayor at the time, Lyda Krewson, to give workers a paid day off if they volunteered to help staff polling places at the November election. Frank said that would violate merit-system rules.
At the civil rights agency, Del Villar 鈥 Jones鈥 newly named director 鈥 will replace Charles Bryson. Huang will succeed Robert Gaskill-Clemons in the technology post. Gaskill-Clemons left the city last summer for a position in Portland, Ore., city government.
Monica Del Villar (left), an American Civil Liberties Union official, was named head of the city鈥檚 Civil Rights Enforcement Agency, and Simon Huang, St. Charles County鈥檚 former IT director, as 最新杏吧原创鈥 chief technology officer.
Bryson and Gaskill-Clemons were holdover Krewson appointees.
Del Villar at the ACLU has been a legislative and policy associate working on various legislative issues. She previously worked in Washington for U.S. Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii.
Huang worked for St. Charles County from 2012 to 2019 and more recently has been a management consultant.
Updated at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 19, 2021
